Who overperformed & who underperformed this season?

[Peltz]

Overperformers:
Fox
Buch
Strome (lotta points, but never really wows)
Blackwell
Kinkaid
Smith (underperformed for his contract but overperformed compared to his past couple seasons)

As expected:
Panarin (would take a lot for him to overperform, we expect this from him)
Lindgren
Miller (some good, some bad, some ugly)
Igor (did well, but not as well as I personally expected)
Mika (very streaky season, not great)

Underperformers:
Everyone else

Don't mean to be blunt, but guys just aren't meeting expectations.

Rooney deserves to be on this list somewhere. Trouba too.

I'd firmly put Kravstov in the overperformed category too.

Edit: man, I'll echo the fact that you guys really don't respect Trouba.

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

Think it's kind of crazy to call Kakko an under-performer. He was not an NHLer last year and was one of the best defensive forwards in the league this year. Almost no PP time as well.

 

[Matt Rentfree]

Rooney deserves to be on this list somewhere. Trouba too.

I'd firmly put Kravstov in the overperformed category too.

Edit: man, I'll echo the fact that you guys really don't respect Trouba.

I agree with you that Trouba gets too much hate on these boards. He's overpaid by about $2M/year but without him taking on tough minutes, it's a lot harder for Adam Fox to do Adam Fox things. IMO, Trouba met expectations for me. I see him as roughly a $6M/year D man and I feel like that's about how he played.

 

[Brief Candle]

I was really impressed by Miller this year. Making the team was nice to see, but to stay up with the club, and come back strong after shifts and periods where he definitely faced some rookie adversity. It’s rare that rookie defenseman don’t have real slide periods, that require sitting some games or hitting the minors for a bit. This season there was basically ZERO refinement coaching. We’ve heard Valiquette and Quinn talk about it often enough; one game ends and you go right into your scouting work up for the next game.

with so little time for correction, I could’ve easily seen Miller bounce in and out of the line-up when he struggled. But he didn’t, and I can’t remember a back to back where his rookie struggles seemed outside of whatever team struggles were going on.

before this season I saw him more as potential trade bait, the kind of player that can get added to a potential killer of a trade. Now I see such a bright future for him, I worry that trading him would be one of Steve Dangle’s trade tree nightmares.

I cannot agree with this enough. He is SO solid. Sure he made some ugly rookie mistakes. The kid literally turned 21 this year. He's a baby! I expect a really solid career out of him.

My overperformers:
Buch
Strome
Smitty
Blackwell - I really like this dude!
Mr. Kravs, a.k.a The Vitalian Stallion - I know we only got a short look at the kid, but man... I am REALLY excited for his future here.

As expected:
Foxy! -I don't think this was a fluke season, nor do I think we've even seen the best out of him yet. This kid is Leetch 2.0. We expected special and we got it.
Mika - Once he fully recovered from Covid, he was good old Mika. Giving him a pass here because of that stuff.
Lindgren - We all know he's a rock solid d-man.
Trouba - though in a different way. He really took his game to a different place. I actually liked him this season.
Kakko - When you have a coaching staff that constantly misuses him, this is what you get.

Underperformers:
With some exceptions, everyone else. Exceptions being guys like Laff and Jones. Everyone else was average at best. Shesty was very, very average. I know it was a weird season, so I'm willing to write it off.

Bowels of the team:
Quinn
Krieder

 

[Machinehead]

Also, tbh, compared to where he was last year, I might go so far as to say Kakko overperformed on my expectations.

We all want more points, but power forwards usually take a minute to get their offense going at the top level.

The fact is, he had the most dramatic one-season turnaround in analytics history.

 

[will1066]

Overperformed:

@GingerPapa

 

[Pizza]

Just in terms of my own eye test, which I admit may be a bit jaundiced, Kreider really stands out to me.

Many games I thought to myself: "where is this guy? what is he doing out there?"

In the midst of his slump he definitely appeared to be sulking. Even before getting moved off the top line.

And then the sour puss expression after finally scoring a goal. That's childish and temperamental. Bit of a Primadonna.

Just does not seem like a guy who knows how to win a Cup or is really THERE when we need him IMO.

 

[will1066]

Just in terms of my own eye test, which I admit may be a bit jaundiced, Kreider really stands out to me.

Many games I thought to myself: "where is this guy? what is he doing out there?"

In the midst of his slump he definitely appeared to be sulking. Even before getting moved off the top line.

And then the sour puss expression after finally scoring a goal. That's childish and temperamental. Bit of a Primadonna.

Just does not seem like a guy who knows how to win a Cup or is really THERE when we need him IMO.

Joe has an aswer for that:
"Maybe if he scores another one, and the floodgates start to open, he'll smile a little more, huh, Sam? *nervous laugh* You know this slump is just eating him up inside. He's such a competitor. He loves this team so much and wants to contribute, Sam."

 

[Maximus]

OVER: Honestly, no one other than Fox overachieved in my book. He was phenomenal....Leetch reborn!

AS EXPECTED: Everyone not in the over and under categories.

UNDER: Mika...I'm sorry even a scorching final 5-6 weeks doesn't make up for how abysmal he was previous to that whether or not it was covid, his fault or not. Same goes with Laffy and Kakko.

Sorry but both of them severely underachieved rookie or being 19 years old be damned. I along with a zillion other Ranger knuckleheads all thought the two of them would have been much much better even tho both showed improvement as the year went on and gives us hope that the two of them will be just fine.

Shit, Laffy was the odds on favorite for the Calder and he likely won't even get a single vote. Yes the two of them will very likely be stars and will hopefully lead us to a Cup or two but for the majority of this season, it was embarrassing how horrid the two of them were.

Overall the way I look at this season and I've said it a bunch of times and I'll say it again. There was a "market correction" on what occurred last year when it looked like the rebuild had accelerated itself. We are right where we should be albeit the whole Dolan fiasco withstanding. So as a team we are AS EXPECTED!!

Next year should begin out reign of terror on the rest of the league and tho sure there will be a bit of tinkering still involved(ie...trade for a #1/#2 center...hmmm), the rebuild tho for all intents and purposes is completed...done...fini, and nothing less than playoffs and eventually Cup contention for the next decade should be acceptable beginning next season.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Fox is of course a great player. But I was sceptical about him early on on the power play after DeAngelo left. Thought he lacked vision. But it took him 1-2 matches to adjust Overperformed even on the power play

Think most players had OK seasons. Buch overperformed together with Fox. Georgiev struggled early. Most likely because of the DeAngelo incident.

Forgot Kreider. Yes he scores many goals. But for the most part he was missing in action. A couple of years ago he was a line driver. Remember him and Zuuc playing so well together. He had all the speed and power that Zuuc lacked. Maybe he needs to play with another type of center than Zibanejad or Chytil? Seemed to do well with Strome.

Zooks looked fast this season. He has had a great year.

 

[TheDirtyH]

Over - Lindgren. Loved him last year, but this year proved himself to be a top-four defenseman in his own right and a damn good one at that.
HM: Buch.

Under - Shesterkin. He played well over all, but he was still too much 'you never know what you'll get' pretty much beginning to end of the year.
HM: Zibanejad.

 

[ETTER DE]

Zooks looked fast this season. He has had a great year.

Well he always said himself that he would like to have the speed of the elite players. I think he felt that speed was was stopped him from becoming an elite player.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Well he always said himself that he would like to have the speed of the elite players. I think he felt that speed was was stopped him from becoming an elite player.

For some reason Zooks looked much quicker this season. He looks like he is enjoying his Minny team this season. Actually sometimes other former Rangers sometimes look quicker on other teams as well. Not sure why.

 

[ETTER DE]

Zooks looked fast this season. He has had a great year.

To be honest I think he has been carried a bit by Kaprizov. But again, he flurrish with players who can skate. He will find them with his good passing and vision.

 

[ETTER DE]

For some reason Zooks looked much quicker this season. He looks like he is enjoying his Minny team this season. Actually sometimes other former Rangers sometimes look quicker on other teams as well. Not sure why.

Have not seen that many Minnesota matches this year. 5-6 maybe. Plus most of the highlights. Minnesota look like a driven team. They work hard. But they are in a tough division.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Have not seen that many Minnesota matches this year. 5-6 maybe. Plus most of the highlights. Minnesota look like a driven team. They work hard. But they are in a tough division.

Their rookie Kap is reason enough to watch them. He is really fun and entertaining. Kap and Zooks have shown a lot of chemistry this season as well.

 

[NickyFotiu]

To be honest I think he has been carried a bit by Kaprizov. But again, he flurrish with players who can skate. He will find them with his good passing and vision.

Zooks has not been carried at all. He and Kap have great chemistry but Zooks has been very good. His shot really improved after arm surgery.

 

[ETTER DE]

Zooks has not been carried at all. He and Kap have great chemistry but Zooks has been very good. His shot really improved after arm surgery.

Have tried to read on the Wild board. The guys who post most their hated Zuuc last year. Now that he has returned to form they cant admit they were wrong about him. So they just dont mention him or give him any credit, even when he scores Guys like that can totally ruin a forum.

 

[94wasagoodyear]

OVER: Honestly, no one other than Fox overachieved in my book. He was phenomenal....Leetch reborn!

AS EXPECTED: Everyone not in the over and under categories.

UNDER: Mika...I'm sorry even a scorching final 5-6 weeks doesn't make up for how abysmal he was previous to that whether or not it was covid, his fault or not. Same goes with Laffy and Kakko.

Sorry but both of them severely underachieved rookie or being 19 years old be damned. I along with a zillion other Ranger knuckleheads all thought the two of them would have been much much better even tho both showed improvement as the year went on and gives us hope that the two of them will be just fine.

Shit, Laffy was the odds on favorite for the Calder and he likely won't even get a single vote. Yes the two of them will very likely be stars and will hopefully lead us to a Cup or two but for the majority of this season, it was embarrassing how horrid the two of them were.

Overall the way I look at this season and I've said it a bunch of times and I'll say it again. There was a "market correction" on what occurred last year when it looked like the rebuild had accelerated itself. We are right where we should be albeit the whole Dolan fiasco withstanding. So as a team we are AS EXPECTED!!

Next year should begin out reign of terror on the rest of the league and tho sure there will be a bit of tinkering still involved(ie...trade for a #1/#2 center...hmmm), the rebuild tho for all intents and purposes is completed...done...fini, and nothing less than playoffs and eventually Cup contention for the next decade should be acceptable beginning next season.

You’re being a bit harsh on Laf. Considering the weirdness of the scheduling changes to the offseason this year, he was set-up for failure. Gets drafted then about a month later gets thrown into the fire without a real offseason. Under a normal year, he comes out of the gates playing much better than he did. He really started to figure things out the last month or so of season, so I attribute the lousy start to the weird offseason. I’d def say a mixed bag performance from him this year but definitely can’t say he underperform all things considered.

 

[BBKers]

Adam Herman under-performed. AS did our Rockstar owner

 

[NickyFotiu]

Have tried to read on the Wild board. The guys who post most their hated Zuuc last year. Now that he has returned to form they cant admit they were wrong about him. So they just dont mention him or give him any credit, even when he scores Guys like that can totally ruin a forum.

I actually give those Wild fans credit. Almost all of them raved about Zooks this season. Many admitted they were wrong about him in his thread. They were not totally wrong about him though. He had a down season (as did the team) last season in part due to his lingering arm injury. Since the arm surgery it is like Zooks was reborn as good as ever.

 

[Row I Goon]

Not to start this again but.....

so a 19 year old playing in the nhl for the first time, during covid, no training camp, after a dozen games.... you labeled him a bust

Does it not seem ridiculous?

But you did start it again.

My apologies for not having more swords to fall on to sate some people’s need to be “right”.

 

[haohmaru]

Lol Johnson underperformed from expectations? I didn't even think that was possible.

His season didn't end early enough I'm thinking.

 

[Maximus]

You’re being a bit harsh on Laf. Considering the weirdness of the scheduling changes to the offseason this year, he was set-up for failure. Gets drafted then about a month later gets thrown into the fire without a real offseason. Under a normal year, he comes out of the gates playing much better than he did. He really started to figure things out the last month or so of season, so I attribute the lousy start to the weird offseason. I’d def say a mixed bag performance from him this year but definitely can’t say he underperform all things considered.

We'll agree to disagree than. I don't think I was being overly harsh. I gave him the credit due for improving as the season went on. But for basically 75% of the season for whatever the reason(fill in the blank as there are a ton of reasons and excuses) Laffy was threatening records as just about the worst statistically #1 overall pick in NHL history.

Think of it this way, the year Kaprizov had for the Wild was what most of us thought Laf would have. So considering the expectations most of us had for him, he massively underachieved.

 

[LetsGoRangers2021]

But you did start it again.

My apologies for not having more swords to fall on to sate some people’s need to be “right”.

Cool story bruh lmfao